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How does everyone feel about H.P. Lovecraft? I think some of his stories are absolutely amazing, though a lot of them are quite deriviative of his own work, and that of other authors in the genre. Still, it's not really a big deal, as they can't all be gold, besides; his gold is fantastic in my relatively puerile opinion.

his work is quite relevant to the psychedelic experience I might add. And most of his work is in the form of short stories, easily managable by most in their spare time. I highly recommend Tales of Horror and the Macabre.

Ah the mythos of Kthulu and the necronomicon...Brings back my youth and the nightmares from the hidden books my mother kept trying to throw out on me.H P Lovecraft was a literary genius with a true gift for writing beleivable (or at least possible) horror which made the reader create most of the unseen horrors in his/her own head which were quite possibly more horrific than anything the writer envisioned.I strongly recomend checking his writing out if you never have

When I was reading some of that Necronomicon stuff, I had to bury the book, cause I thought it was possessed. Seriously was freaking me out. I am never, EVER, trying out any of those demon summoning magick diagram things. EEEK! What a hideously creepy book. I found that Mad Arabian guy's story very believable altough it's all probably full of shit.

--------------------"Listen to me son, when I was your age, you were my age."

I don't think that you've read the true Necronomicon, if there actually is a true Necronomicon... I've (probably) got the same one, but there's much doubt of its legitimacy. I dunno though, I thought it was pretty neat.

I think H.P. Lovecraft even claimed that he invented the Necronomicon, though I don't know about that. I like to believe that there was a Mad Arab, and a true version of his book, that has been lost forever, or for the time being.

I first read the Simon edition of the Necronomicon. Somewhere in there it says possessing the book will bring harm to you and loved ones...yadda yadda. So i read through it in one sitting and went to bed. I woke up and went to school and my best friend wasn't there, no one knew where he was. I got home and we received calls from people looking for my uncle, he didn't show up at work. I was beginning to get concerned but they all appeared the next day

Yes the Necronomicon is a fake as Lovecraft published a history of it as a joke to all the people who were interested in it.

If your going to buy his works I recommend "The Annotated H.P. Lovecraft" and "More Annotated H.P. Lovecraft" by S.T. Joshi they are better quality than the $3 pulp editions that dominate Lovecraft books.

the whole necronomicon thing is a pretty twisted affair. apparently, there *is* a real necronomicon, but its whereabouts are unknown, and many of the passages in aleister crowley's "book of the law" were very similar to the necronomicon, so he had every copy he could destroyed. one of crowley's girlfriends was friends with lovecraft, which could explain where lovecraft got the idea. he then wrote his own copy, and recently other fake copies have sprung up as well. go here for a more detailed explanation.

There is no necronomicon. Bigfoot has a better chance of existing. Lovecraft invented it for his mythos. Its nice to believe it exists, but if it does we would have a real copy, not the crap by Simon, or Skoob books.

actually, i think you're right. i hadn't really done any research on the necronomicon until recently. i was just somewhat familiar with the cthulhu mythos, and after i read that FAQ and posted that message, i found this link here by the same author. i found this essay quite interesting..here is another link worth reading, also by the same person. the plot thickens. just goes to show you the importance of doing deep research before coming to conclusions..

I used to think the Necronomicon existed in some form. I quit believing it after I did massive research.

The Necronomicon (Simon,1977) and Necronomicon: Book of Dead Names (George Hay, Skoob books 1978) was published well after The Goetia (1904). Lovecraft first referred to the Necronomicon in 1922 in his short story ?The Hound.? So if anything at all has the slightest resemblance - he borrowed from the Goetia! Pure BS.

If people believe it IS the Necronomicon, they sell more books. Notice how in the Simon edition the author mentions he could not have produced the work without the help of the demon Perdurabo, which of course was Aleister Crowleys magical motto, and who was the editor of the Goetia....Crowley.

I can't believe people think the necronomicon is real. Its real if you need it to be. If you need something to hunt after and divine its secrets and all that drama. It is a fantastic story by the greatest horror writer of our time.

I have the real necronomicon. The pages are faded and filled by unreadable arabic script; but I am willing to part with it for 5 million dollars. It is of course totally different from the many FAKE editions published by greedy writers, but mine is the REAL one, really it is! Hurry before Cthulhu takes me!!!!

When I first began to participate in the Internet newsgroup alt.magick in the late ?80s, one of the common questions asked was "where can I find the Necronomicon?". Replies to this question were often extremely contemptuous. I found myself identifying more closely with those looking for the book than those denying its existence. I wrote the Necronomicon antiFAQ in the spirit of pure fun, and used all the best techniques of popular historical investigation: the juxtaposition of fact, supposition and pure nonsense, seamlessly blended and delivered with an air of magisterial authority. I knew it would annoy those who wanted to provide "the truth" about the Necronomicon. In my experience truth is often more about social domination than a process of enquiry.

Why should anyone care about a book that doesn?t exist? From a personal point of view, why should I invest energy in a literary invention? I don?t have an interest in speaking Klingon, I don?t practice writing in Tolkien?s Elvish. Why bother with the Necronomicon? People have written to me on many occasions after reading the Necronomicon AntiFAQ, and although I have always explained that it is a spoof, I have over the years provided a patchwork quilt of elaborations on why it is not entirely a spoof. This essay is an attempt to do properly what I previously did informally - explain some of my opinions regarding the Necronomicon.

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The claim that Lovecraft?s relatives were Masonic initiates is not substantiated by what we know of his family. An alternative explanation (promoted by the author in an extended moment of wickedness), that Lovecraft?s wife Sonia Greene associated with the notorious occultist and poet Aleister Crowley during his residence in New York in 1918 is completely plausible and consistent with both their characters, but entirely untrue.

One of the participants in the Langford-Turner spoof (Colin Wilson) has admitted in print that it is a spoof. It is a good spoof however

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Lovecraft himself considered writing a hoax Necronomicon. In a letter to James Blish and William Miller dated May 13, 1936, he says, "If anyone were to try to write the Necronomicon, it would disappoint all those who have shuddered at cryptic references to it. The most one could do -- and I may try that some time -- is to 'translate' isolated chapters of the mad Arab's monstrous tome . . . A collected series of such extracts might later be offered as an 'abridged and expurgated Necronomicon' -- although I am opposed to serious hoaxes, since they really confuse and retard the sincere student of folklore. I feel quite guilty every time I hear of someone's having spent valuable time looking up the Necronomicon at public libraries" (Uncollected Letters, 37-38). Perhaps it is unfortunate that Lovecraft himself did not close the field to further hoax editions; perhaps it is fortunate that the open-endedness of his enterprise remained unsullied.

>I'll refer you to my first post in this thread regarding the Necronomicon. >>I like to believe that there was a Mad Arab, and a true version of his book, that has been lost forever, or for the time being.

I figured you'd notice that.I do like to believe that there is a true Mad Arab, as he is quite an inspiring guy. And if I like to believe that he existed, then I would of course like to believe that his book existed, somewhere, somehow.

Just for a point of referance: I also like to believe in Cthulu while I read the stories.

Anyhow, you suggested that I was a horse you had led to water, and I wanted to let you know that I'd already drank of it. No big deal really.

I'm starting to think that you're not having quite as much fun in this thread as I am. Concerning the observation of mine that started this, I merely thought it was funny (you'll see this word a lot in a few seconds).

>>I used to think the Necronomicon existed in some form.

>>I can't believe people think the necronomicon is real.

>Just thought that was funny.

I was high, and that assembly of words seemed quite funny. I checked again when I wasn't high, and I still thought it was funny, and now that I'm high again I find it funnier than ever.

I think it's the suggestion that you are not, or were not, a person, that makes me laugh. I didn't point it out to insult you. I'm sorry if I have offended you.